Biden is getting a physical. The report will be scrutinized because of his age

President Biden is getting a physical on Wednesday at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, he told reporters.

A summary of the results, to be released later on Wednesday, will be closely scrutinized since Biden, 81, is the oldest person ever to hold the office, and voters have expressed concern that he is too old for a second four-term term in the job.

Those questions were amplified earlier this month by a special counsel report about Biden's handling of classified material that described him as a "sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory."

Biden's medical reports from Nov. 2021 and Feb. 2023 did not include any references to tests or evaluations of his memory or cognition.

Biden was angry with the assessment in the special counsel report, telling reporters "my memory is fine" — before mistakenly referring to the president of Mexico when he meant Egypt. The White House has since taken pains to show Biden managing a busy schedule of campaign travel and other public appearances, where he often tries to use humor to reassure people about his age.

"I know I'm only 40 years old — times two... I may not run as fast as I used to" he told donors at an event last week in Beverly Hills. "I've been around long enough to hopefully – with age — have a little bit of wisdom about how we can get things done."

Biden has also noted that at age 77, former President Donald Trump – the front-runner in the race to be the Republican candidate for November's presidential election – is almost as old as he is, and also sometimes mixes up names. [Copyright 2024 NPR]